Pieces

"I think we should do breakfast sandwiches." Punk nodded, taking some croissants out of the oven.

"Like McDonald's?" Daryl asked, folding his arms.

"What? No. Not like McDonald's." Punk shook his head, "Well… yes, like McDonald's. But better." He said.

"You know how to cook?" Daryl asked.

"I can make a breakfast sandwich. Can you?" Punk asked as Daryl shrugged.

"Never tried it. My mom makes me breakfast." Daryl said as Punk looked at him, unimpressed, "What? She insists."

"I'm thinking sausage, egg, bacon, cheese, hash brown… all that good breakfast stuff." Punk nodded, "I could speak to Tommy from the butchers down the street. He could supply us with what meats we need." He said. He already got cold cuts delivered from him for the deli sandwiches and bagels they put out at lunch, he figured he could make a deal with him.

"Everyone loves a breakfast sandwich." Daryl nodded, not seeing any reason to doubt the idea.

"My thoughts exactly." Punk nodded, "And with the Summer Fair coming up in a couple of months, I'm thinking they'd gone down well."

"Yeah, you're right." Daryl nodded, "Cooking and serving is going to slow us down a little, though. Don't you think?"

"We can manage." Punk said confidently, "I'm going to try some stuff out tonight and see how it goes."

"If they're as good as your donuts then I'm sure we'll be fine." Daryl nodded.

Yesterday they had sold out of all the donuts Punk had made before lunch. He had to quickly whip up another batch to sell for the afternoon which also eventually sold out. He was extremely proud to see his hard work pay off. However, he only wanted one person's opinion on them.

"Take these out the front." Punk said, handing him the tray of freshly baked croissants to display on the counter for opening.

"Yes, sir." Daryl nodded, taking the tray and heading out to the front counter.

"So, you're not going to college this year?" Punk asked, coming out with a tray of cinnamon rolls to also put on display.

"No. I thought you knew that." Daryl said.

"Won't all your friends be leaving this place?" Punk asked him.

"I've not really seen much of my friends lately, anyway. They all kinda fell by the waste side after my injury." Daryl said.

"They're not good friends then." Punk said.

"I probably pushed them away." Daryl shrugged, "Took out my frustration on them."

"So, you have no other career aspirations?" Punk asked him, "Nothing beyond football?"

"No, guess not." Daryl said, "Never thought about doing anything other than football."

"Now that you know it's not an option… don't you think about what else you might consider?" Punk asked him.

"No. I mean… I guess I got this place. Gets me out of bed every morning and I get a decent wage for it." Daryl shrugged.

"Surely this isn't where you want to work for the rest of your life?" Punk asked him.

"I'm not really one of those people who think too far into the future." Daryl said, "More like… take each day at a time. That's what I'm doing right now."

"You're still young." Punk nodded, "I think Shiv across the road is going to college after the Summer. I wonder if she'll still keep working at the coffee shop." Punk said. He knew it was evil to bate Daryl into talking about Shiv, but he couldn't help it.

"She was always smart." Daryl nodded briefly, the only comment he had to say about the matter, "I'm sure she'll go far." He added quietly before heading back into the kitchen.

"Everybody grab a spoon." AJ told the girls, standing in the kitchen in front of her newest recipe.

"Oh, what did you make?" Shiv asked, grabbing a spoon from the drawer whilst Becca and Lyla followed.

"This is a pear crumble." AJ said, "Tell me what you guys think." She nodded nervously as the girls each dug their spoons in, crowding around the small crumble on the plate.

"This might be better than your apple one." Becca nodded enthusiastically.

"It's not too dry?" AJ worried, "I thought it might be."

"No, the pears are so moist." Lyla said.

"Don't say that word." Shiv scolded.

"Moist as moist can be." Lyla whispered into Shiv's ear.

"Good?" AJ nodded to them all.

"Really good." Shiv nodded, "The pears are so soft and sweet."

"I think I'm going to make it a special for tomorrow." AJ said.

"That would explain the basket of pears sitting over there." Lyla nodded to the large number of pears sitting in a basket on the kitchen counter.

"These would be good for the Summer Fair, too." Becca said.

"Yeah, I was thinking that." AJ agreed, "Ok, good. I'm glad you guys like." She clapped her hands happily.

"Mister across the road has been doing donuts apparently." Shiv said, "My mom told me."

"Yeah, I showed him out to make them." AJ nodded, taking a bite of her crumble whilst Shiv and Becca looked at her with confusion, "What?"

"You showed him how to make donuts? When?" Becca questioned.

"The other night." AJ nodded.

"Here?" Shiv asked.

"No, my apartment." AJ said calmly.

"What?!" Shiv shrieked as Lyla covered her ears, "You let the enemy into your home?"

"Ok, we're over all the silly drama, Shiv." AJ reminded her.

"But still." Shiv folded her arms.

"So, he just… showed up at your apartment?" Becca asked, "That's a little weird."

"He wanted help with baking. I'm trying out this new thing where I be nice to him. It's actually less stressful than hating him." AJ nodded, although she wasn't quite sure that was true.

After enjoying the donut he'd left for her last night, she'd desperately wanted to tell him how good it was and how happy she was for him that he'd gotten it right. Yet she also didn't know where she stood with him after she'd asked him to leave her apartment. She appreciated that he was keeping his distance and giving her space. It was still taking a lot for her to look past his previous job as a criminal defence lawyer.

"But in your apartment?" Shiv said, "It's a little scandalous."

"Would you shut up?" Lyla inserted.

"What if he was there for… you know what." Shiv said as AJ gave her an unimpressed stare.

"Sex?" Becca clarified with Shiv who nodded.

"You guys are ridiculous." AJ concluded, although now she couldn't stop picturing herself having sex with him, which was a strange turn of events considering she hadn't been able to picture such an image for a very long time.

"Are we?" Shiv asked, "Are we, really?"

"Yes." AJ nodded, "He was not there to have sex with me. He wanted to learn how to make donuts. That was it."

"What a strange turn of events this is." Becca said as Shiv nodded in agreement.

"And what's it to you if AJ has sex with him?" Lyla looked at the two younger girls.

"Uh… I am not having sex with him." AJ made clear.

"You just hated him so much. I thought you still did." Becca said.

"Well, I shouldn't have hated him. He's in the same position I was when I got here. I had to fit myself into this town and it was really difficult. I know how he feels. I shouldn't be making it all the harder for him." AJ said, "I got so caught up in defending and protecting this place… but we have nothing to worry about here. We're as busy as ever, even with another coffee shop in town." She said. Of that, she was sure of. The rest of her friendship with Punk was definitely still muddled, but she wouldn't tell Shiv and Becca that.

"Does this mean I have to be nice to Daryl?" Shiv asked unhappily.

"Hey, we're all grown woman here. You don't have to like or dislike someone just because I do or because you work here." AJ laughed a little, although she loved their loyalty and fierce friendship.

"What's the deal with you and him anyway?" Lyla asked Shiv.

"Nothing." Shiv shook her head.

"Oh, bullshit." Lyla said, "We saw you kissing him out on the street one time. Were you guys hooking up?"

"Yes." Shiv shrugged, "We were best friends since like pre-k." She said, "Then we started hanging out more in high school… just the two of us." She nodded, "We had the same group of friends but we… we didn't really tell anybody. It was better like that." She shrugged.

"Ok, so why do you hate him?" AJ asked.

"When he broke his leg, he just pushed everyone away. Including me." Shiv said, "Said some horrible stuff, too. I know he probably didn't mean it but that doesn't matter." She shook her head, "He started drinking and sleeping around. Acting like I didn't exist." She said.

"That's shitty." Becca nodded.

"Yeah, you didn't deserve that." AJ said.

"It's whatever now." Shiv shrugged.

"I'm sure there will be plenty of cute guys when you go off to college." Lyla nodded, "You'll forget all about him." She said.

"Yeah." Shiv nodded along.

"Who's next?" Punk said, summoning another customer from the queue during a busy afternoon rush.

"Can I just get an Americano?" Luke asked, "And one of the pastrami bagels." He pointed through the glass partition where all the deli sandwiches and bagels were sitting.

"Sure." Punk nodded, "To go?"

"Yeah." Luke nodded.

"Lunch break?" Punk asked, putting a plastic cup underneath the coffee machine whilst fetching the bagel and putting it into a brown paper bag.

"Yeah. I used to go across the road but… this place is a lot better. Mostly cakes and sweet bullshit over there." Luke shook his head as Punk nodded along, although he wanted to pull the guy across the counter by the neck.

"I mean… the cakes and sweet bullshit seem to be doing pretty well." Punk nodded across the road where there was a queue outside the door.

"I'm just after some decent coffee and a sandwich to see me through the rest of the day." Luke shook his head, taking his card out of his wallet, "You take card?"

"Yeah, machine is right there." Punk pointed to the card machine which was right in front of Luke's eyes.

"And honestly? I don't think I can go back in there after my disastrous date with the owner." He laughed a little whilst Punk checked on his coffee.

"Disastrous?" Punk asked.

"Check this… I kissed her and she had a complete meltdown." Luke shook his head, "I ain't ever seen anything like it before." He said whilst Punk put the lid on his coffee and turned around to him. So, this man was the result of the night he found AJ inconsolable.

"Maybe she didn't want to be kissed." Punk shrugged, sliding the coffee and bagel towards him.

"No need to cry about it, though." Luke said, "I think she's a bit of a nutter, honestly." He nodded as Punk stared him. He knew it would be bad for business if he socked him in the face right now, but it was oh so tempting.

"She must have bruised your ego real bad." Punk smiled a little. It horrified him that this man was openly going around speaking about something that clearly most people wouldn't, out of respect for the other party involved. It was insensitive and a reflection on the type of man he was.

"Nah, I'm all good." Luke shrugged, "I've just never saw anyone that spooked by a kiss." He shook his head, "It was so weird."

"Out of respect for her, you should maybe keep this to yourself." Punk suggested calmly, "I don't know… just seems a bit shitty to be openly telling people about it." He said as Luke looked at him, no doubt trying to figure out if he was joking or not.

"Dude, it's not that serious." Luke shook his head, taking his coffee and bagel.

"Yeah, to you." Punk nodded, "I know this town likes to gossip and chat about everything and everyone but… give yourself a check before you open your mouth again." He said as Luke stared at him, no doubt in disbelief that someone had told him off.

"Jesus Christ." Luke shook his head, snatching his things and heading for the door unhappily whilst Punk shook his head.

"What was that?" Daryl asked, making a coffee by the machine.

"Should have spat in his coffee." Punk shook his head.

He wondered what AJ saw in him to even accept a date with him, but now he'd heard her freak out was over him kissing her, he was starting to piece some things together.